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Source: Activist takes grenades to State House, nabbed | The Herald March 22, 2019

Zenzele Ndebele

Bulawayo Bureau
An  activist was yesterday arrested at the Bulawayo State House where President Mnangagwa was meeting Matabeleland civil society leaders after he was found in possession of items that looked like grenades.

Police arrested one Zenzele Ndebele for conduct likely to breach the maintenance of public peace, in an incident with a chilling reminder that President Mnangagwa was bombed at White City Stadium last year.

Details were sketchy last night, with authorities ascertaining the nature of the objects, but preliminary indications were that they could have been chemical weapon cannisters such as teargas, likely to be thrown in an offensive posture.

Sources said alert security officials recovered items that could threaten public peace as Ndebele drove into the State House.

Ndebele, who is said to be a journalist, is a director of Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE), an online media organisation.

A security source said he was found with suspicious articles used by security agents, but could not elaborate further.

“(His arrest) it has to do with his conduct that was likely to breach the maintenance law and order. He was likely to breach maintenance of public peace considering that this was a public gathering. So he had no reason at all to go into that gathering carrying some items which in actual fact are items which are used by security services and he is not a member of the security services.”

Unconfirmed reports said Ndebele was allegedly found in possession of teargas cannisters in the restricted area in a city where President Mnangagwa escaped an assassination attempt in June last year.

The security source added: “The law is very clear no one should go into any public gathering carrying items which legally no one would be allowed to be in possession of. He had no reason at all to carry those items to the gathering. Whatever he was carrying he had no reason to be in possession of those items.”

He said Ndebele is likely to appear in court today.

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Source: Parly ratifies African Charter on democracy, elections | Newsday (News)

BY VENERANDA LANGA

PARLIAMENT on Tuesday ratified the African Charter on Democracy and Elections and Governance, which, among other things, is meant to enhance the quality of elections in Africa, promote human rights, strengthen the rule of law and promote political, economic and social governance.

The charter, which was brought for ratification in the National Assembly by Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, also addresses issues relating to unconstitutional changes of governments in Africa, and ensures that those that attempt to remove a constitutionally-elected government are dealt with in terms of the law.

Zimbabwe joins countries like Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Togo and Zambia to ratify the charter.

Zimbabwe now needs to sign the charter into law.

Ziyambi said the ratification of the charter means that the country must now have representative systems of government with separation of powers between branches, promote democracy, rule of law and basic human rights, ensure democratic rule and constitutional changes of power through free, fair and transparent elections, and respect ethnic cultural and religious diversity.

“The African Charter of Democracy, Elections and Governance was signed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on March 21, 2018 in Rwanda and the signing was ahead of our harmonised elections which were held on July 31, 2018,” Ziyambi said.

“The signing was so that we enhance the quality of our own elections, among other objectives. The charter binds State parties to promote democracy, rule of law and human rights. It obligates State parties to take necessary measures to promote constitutional transfer of power.

“It also binds State parties to guarantee rights of women, migrants, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and other vulnerable social groups.”
The Justice minister also said the charter also binds State parties to institutionalise constitutional civilian control over the armed and security forces to ensure consolidation of democracy and constitutional order.

“State parties are also obligated to take legislative and regulatory measures to ensure that those who attempt to remove an elected government are dealt with in accordance with the law. State parties are sanctioned by the Charter to commit to regular holding of transparent, free and fair elections in accordance with the union’s declaration on the principles governing democratic elections in Africa,” he said.

Nkulumane MP Kucaca Phulu said ratification of the charter will enable government to become more transparent in how it conducts elections and enable different stakeholders to know exactly what should happen and when elections are going to take place.

“We hope they do not take another two years before they present their articles of ratification to the relevant forum. It would be nice to hear some assurances from the minister that they will move quickly to ensure that it is ratified and we bring it back to this House for domestication,” Phulu said.

Ziyambi promised to speed up the process to ensure political and legislative reforms in areas of governance and electoral reforms.

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Source: Govt on industrialisation education drive | Newsday (News)

BY VANESSA GONYE

Government is making strides to complete implementation of education that focuses on industrialisation by ensuring the building of innovation hubs at the country’s institutions of higher learning.

Speaking on the sidelines of a tour of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Higher Education minister, Amon Murwira said they had reached the fourth step of ensuring that institutions move towards more practical learning under its education 5.0 initiative.

“This is the fourth step towards industrialisation. From here, we are doing the industrial parks, so that we complete the cycle of education 5.0; basically, what we are doing is less talk and more action,” he said.

Murwira said the tour with the committee was to ensure that they appreciate the new education model.

“We are taking the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education Science and Technology Development around to appreciate our idea of education 5.0, an education that produces goods and services. We went to the High-Performance Computing Centre to show them the innovations we are doing,” Murwira said.

He said the innovation hub at the UZ was one of the biggest in the country, where minimal resources are needed for the completion of the project because the institutions provide their own labour.

“This is an example of the innovation hubs that we are building. It’s one of the largest in the country and it’s being done by the university. We are just giving them money, but otherwise they are building it using their own artisans and engineers,” he said.

Chairperson of the committee, Molokela Tsiye hailed efforts by government to speed up completion of the new model and pledged his committee’s commitment to actively work on the initiative to complement government efforts from the front.

“We are willing to work hard and will not be a committee that is in the committee rooms only, but we will also be on the ground because this is a people’s Parliament.

“We want to be practical and engage the ministry, today we have managed to do that and we have come to the UZ to witness the project. That field trip has also broadened our perspective and analysis, we are very impressed by the technology and advancement it comes with,” Tsiye said.

He said as a committee, they were going to encourage the government to support the initiative to realise its full potential.

“It is something that generates its own income, what is needed is that start-up capital to give it a boost. But it’s a technology that is very rare and Zimbabwe needs it and we are supporting calls to make sure that funding is available,” the MP said.

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Source: Sable Chemicals projects 70% jump in AN production – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 22, 2019

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

ZIMBABWE’S sole ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizer producer, Sable Chemicals, is projecting a production increase of AN fertilizer this year by as much as 70%, up from the 39 000 metric tonnes produced last year, an official has said.

Sable Chemicals marketing manager Philip Matemera told NewsDay that the company was working on capitalising the business to improve its capacity.

Since January, the fertilizer maker had produced 6 000mt of AN.

“For 2019, Sable is projecting to produce 70 000mt of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. So far, Sable has produced 6 000mt of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.
Last year, we produced 39 000mt,” he said.

In the short term, that is 2019 to 2020, Matemera said the company will be focusing on doubling production from the current levels.

“To achieve this, Sable is investing $25 million into plant refurbishment and purchase of rail tankers which are used to transport ammonia gas from South Africa to the Sable plant in Kwekwe,” he said.

In the long term, he said Sable will be looking at localising the source of ammonia gas and producing urea.

“The other challenge is access to local suppliers and services, which all require forex and we look forward to the work being done to capacitate the National Railways of Zimbabwe. The other challenge is the inflationary pressure impacting on the cost,” he said.

“As you are aware, the recent Monetary Policy Statement liberalised trading in foreign currency. However, it is too early to comment on the effectiveness of the interbank foreign currency market.”

Sable Chemicals requires US$2,8 million monthly to import ammonia gas.

The fertilizer company is importing ammonia, a key component in the production of AN from South Africa following the decommissioning of its electrolysis plant, which had become obsolete.

Government has a 36% stake in Sable Chemicals, while the remaining shares are owned by Masawara Holdings.

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Source: ’Prostate cancer on the rise in Zim’ | Newsday (News)

By Phyllis Mbanje

The growing spread of prostate cancer among Zimbabwean men now warrants a serious epidemiological investigation, the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry (ZCR) has revealed.

ZCR registrar Eric Chokunonga said the increase in the incidence of this tumour was worrisome.

“Consistent with observations made in recent years, the incidence of prostate cancer continues to rise unchallenged. It remained the leading cause of cancer in men in 2016, coming second after cervical cancer nationally,” he said.

In a 2016 report, ZCR said prostate cancer accounted for 22% of all the 7 265 cancers recorded that year.

Lovemore Makurirofa, the information and research officer at the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) said they had since intensified information dissemination within communities.

“We are very worried about the rising cases of prostate cancer, especially with limited resources to tackle it,” he said.

Working with corporates, they have tried to involve men in the awareness raising campaigns designed to inform people on the disease and encouraging those above the age of 45 to go for screening annually.

“Of concern is the high cost of screening and treating prostate cancer. The computerised tomography (CT) scans are beyond the reach of many and even those on medical aid at times are asked to cash up front and likely in USD,” he said.

A CT scan is a test that uses X-rays and a computer to create detailed pictures of the inside of the body to find out where the cancer is and whether it has spread.

These high costs have resulted in many people presenting late with the disease in stage 3 or 4. The later stages are difficult to manage and more expensive. According to the ZCR report, at least 87% of the cases were in stage 3 and 4.

Recently, protesting senior doctors revealed that most cancer patients were failing to get further screening and diagnosis and were going home to die or presented themselves later when the disease had spread to other parts of the body.

“People really need correct information because some will opt for other sources like traditional or faith healers,” Makurirofa said.

“Men can prevent prostate cancer by carefully watching their diet. More vegetables and fruits, as well as exercising. Sedentary (inactive) lifestyles are discouraged.”

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